National Geographic Traveller (UK) - Food
COLONIA ROMA
You can’t come to Mexico City without visiting hip Colonia Roma, south west of Centro Histórico. Dating back to the late 19th century, the district is host to art nouveau and neoclassical mansions and is the hub of the city’s contemporary culinary scene.
Start at Forte Bread & Coffee, an indooroutdoor bakery serving coffee grown in the jungles of Chiapas, a state in south east Mexico, and the forests outside of the city of Puebla, around 60 miles from Mexico City. Espresso is served on ice and mixed with tascalate, a clay-coloured prehispanic drink that combines axiote seeds, roasted corn, cacao beans, cinnamon and organic cane sugar. Pair it with a freshly baked cacao- or coffee-flavoured concha (a classic Mexican pastry) and enjoy it in Plaza Luis Cabrera, a lively park where locals flock to walk their dogs around the central fountain.
Continue down Calle Orizaba, an area with numerous boutiques and buildings like
Edificio Balmori, an example of the eclectic, French-style architecture that sprang up in Colonia Roma in the early 1900s. It was part of a city expansion plan that also included new green spaces, plazas and wide, tree-lined Parisian style boulevards.
Eventually, you’ll arrive at Meroma,a modern Mexican restaurant owned by husbandand-wife chef duo Rodney Cusic and Mercedes Bernal, regulars on Mexico’s ‘best chef’ lists. On the top-floor terrace, dine on small plates such as fried baby artichokes in a bed of creamy jocoque (a dip akin to Greek yoghurt) or foie gras topped with kumquat marmalade and cacao sourced from the eastern state of Veracruz. Continue around the corner to Plaza Río de
Janeiro, one of the liveliest green spaces in the neighbourhood, which has a bronze replica of the statue of David at its centre. Bask in the afternoon light before stopping at Bottega, a bar serving natural wines from both Mexico and Europe. Round off the evening at Emilia, which has one of the country’s most promising young chefs at the helm. Here, Lucho
Martínez prepares Japanese-style cuisine using Mexican ingredients. Dishes include sashimi of kampachi, a local fish, marinated in fermented passion fruit juice and chia seeds, and aged duck with a yuzu kosho sauce with habanero chillies.